Monday, February 25, 2008
Eagles in pursuit of Asante Samuel??
According to Peter King's "Monday Morning Quarterback", Asante Samuel, formerly a cornerback for the New England Patriots will be headed to the Philadelphia Eagles when they offer him a five year deal in the neighborhood of $55 million. In my opinion, they'd be grossly overpaying for a cornerback who isn't as good as his stats may say. This signing would be totally uncharacteristic of the Andy Reid regime so I think these rumors might be poppycock... That's right I said it... poppycock!
What Have I been watching lately...
With my chaotic schedule as of late with work, band practices, and such, I haven't been catching a lot of television lately, but with the new DVR on my cable box, I at least have some shows ready to be watched. But here are some shows I've been watching lately, both on television, and on DVD:
ROCK OF LOVE II: Brett Michaels is at it again, making out with all those slutty girls trying to get their 15 minutes of fame, and hiding his male pattern baldness with a strategically placed bandana... It's pure entertainment to see what lengths these girls will go to, to get with a washed up rock star...
WEEDS SEASON 2 & 3: Only recently have I been getting into this show so I've been playing catch-up on Netflix. I just finished up Season 2, which ended on a cliff hanger and apparently Season 3 isn't out on DVD yet so I'm watching it on On Demand instead... I plan on moving on to CALIFORNICATION SEASON 1 after I'm done with WEEDS
CELEBRITY REHAB: For some odd reason, I'm drawn towards celebrities and their problems. You can tell that a celebrity is trying to keep hold of the final seconds of their fifteen minutes of fame when they decide to do a show that puts them under a microscope and exposes who they really are to millions of viewers. But, I salute them for providing me with something entertaining to watch on TV. I'm also gearing up for the next season of Celebrity Fit Club... why did they let Dustin Diamond back for another season??
THE SIMPSONS SEASON 5: Only recently have I begun collecting the seasons of The Simpsons in an attempt to relive my childhood and the show that had the most influence on my sense of humor. Our Fox affiliate around here has decided to only show new episodes of The Simpsons, which are not funny, so I'm relegated to watching the old seasons on DVD.
FLYERS GAMES: Ever since, I've gotten the new HDtv, I'm automatically drawn to any and all sporting events in HD and hockey is one of the best. The Ice is so white that it starts to burn images into my retina. I'll notice that my eyes take a little time to adjust to dimmer lighting after watching a Flyers game. Also, since purchasing the TV, it's now basically required that my Dad watches Flyers games on my TV so there's no getting around watching these games even though I enjoy them nonetheless...
And soon I'll be watching Phillies games on a nightly basis... can't wait
ROCK OF LOVE II: Brett Michaels is at it again, making out with all those slutty girls trying to get their 15 minutes of fame, and hiding his male pattern baldness with a strategically placed bandana... It's pure entertainment to see what lengths these girls will go to, to get with a washed up rock star...
WEEDS SEASON 2 & 3: Only recently have I been getting into this show so I've been playing catch-up on Netflix. I just finished up Season 2, which ended on a cliff hanger and apparently Season 3 isn't out on DVD yet so I'm watching it on On Demand instead... I plan on moving on to CALIFORNICATION SEASON 1 after I'm done with WEEDS
CELEBRITY REHAB: For some odd reason, I'm drawn towards celebrities and their problems. You can tell that a celebrity is trying to keep hold of the final seconds of their fifteen minutes of fame when they decide to do a show that puts them under a microscope and exposes who they really are to millions of viewers. But, I salute them for providing me with something entertaining to watch on TV. I'm also gearing up for the next season of Celebrity Fit Club... why did they let Dustin Diamond back for another season??
THE SIMPSONS SEASON 5: Only recently have I begun collecting the seasons of The Simpsons in an attempt to relive my childhood and the show that had the most influence on my sense of humor. Our Fox affiliate around here has decided to only show new episodes of The Simpsons, which are not funny, so I'm relegated to watching the old seasons on DVD.
FLYERS GAMES: Ever since, I've gotten the new HDtv, I'm automatically drawn to any and all sporting events in HD and hockey is one of the best. The Ice is so white that it starts to burn images into my retina. I'll notice that my eyes take a little time to adjust to dimmer lighting after watching a Flyers game. Also, since purchasing the TV, it's now basically required that my Dad watches Flyers games on my TV so there's no getting around watching these games even though I enjoy them nonetheless...
And soon I'll be watching Phillies games on a nightly basis... can't wait
Monday, February 18, 2008
A night on the town... The Red Sky Restaurant and Lounge...
So I took Maureen out for a post-Valentine's Day night on the town since I wasn't able to do anything on the actual Valentine's Day and we had a really good time.
The night started with some ice skating at the Blue Cross River Rink right as it was getting dark. With the Ben Franklin Bridge in the background, it was quite the place to be. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about some key accessories to ice skating on an outdoor rink. I had ankle socks on so I was getting some skin-to-skate contact which wasn't that bad and I had also forgotten to bring a pair of gloves. Maureen insisted on trying to give me her gloves but I couldn't have her hands going cold to make up for my stupidity. And it probably would have been a good idea to stretch before hand... But, other than those snafus, the ice skating was a lot of fun... and I didn't even make an ass out of myself and fall or anything like that. Also on a side note, the music selections for the skating were pretty out there. Apparently the guy programming the music was a fan of Jimmy Eat World and Duran Duran... he even went as far as to play what seemed like a 15 minute Jimmy Eat World song that just wouldn't end...haha
So after ice skating, we had worked up an appetite and I had made reservations at The Red Sky Restaurant & Lounge up on Market St in Olde City, which came highly recommended by Dusty who apparently had flirted with his waitress there and secured himself some free cocktails...typical Dusty. We had a little time to kill before the reservation, so we set up shop at the bar, which happened to have the Flyers game on TV, unluckily for Maureen. While, I'm not much of an adventurous drinker (I stuck to beer, although I did class it up with some Stella Artois's), Maureen enjoyed the specialty drinks the Red Sky had to offer, including the aptly named "Red Sky". She gave the specialty drinks rave reviews and I had a sip of each one she had and I'd second those reviews.
Once we were seated for dinner, I had my mind set on getting a steak, so I ordered the NY Strip Steak, which I must say, was probably one of the best steaks I've ever had. It was a nice cut of meat, and all the seasonings and dressing really brought out the taste... Maureen was a little more adventurous and ordered the Lamb (I don't remember specifically what it was called, possibly, Rack of Lamb) and she enjoyed that as well. I managed to have a bite of it and it was pretty interesting. For dessert, we shared a creme brulee which was simply amazing. Believe it or not, I had never had creme brulee before, so it was pretty eye opening.
So to sum up the Red Sky Lounge, it's your typical trendy Olde City restaurant atmosphere, but with excellent food and a pretty creative selection of mixed drinks. I'd highly recommend it.
I'll probably have more postings of my different food and dining experiences now that Maureen has been able expose me to foods and restaurants outside of Denny's and Tom Jones Restaurant...HAHA.
The night started with some ice skating at the Blue Cross River Rink right as it was getting dark. With the Ben Franklin Bridge in the background, it was quite the place to be. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about some key accessories to ice skating on an outdoor rink. I had ankle socks on so I was getting some skin-to-skate contact which wasn't that bad and I had also forgotten to bring a pair of gloves. Maureen insisted on trying to give me her gloves but I couldn't have her hands going cold to make up for my stupidity. And it probably would have been a good idea to stretch before hand... But, other than those snafus, the ice skating was a lot of fun... and I didn't even make an ass out of myself and fall or anything like that. Also on a side note, the music selections for the skating were pretty out there. Apparently the guy programming the music was a fan of Jimmy Eat World and Duran Duran... he even went as far as to play what seemed like a 15 minute Jimmy Eat World song that just wouldn't end...haha
So after ice skating, we had worked up an appetite and I had made reservations at The Red Sky Restaurant & Lounge up on Market St in Olde City, which came highly recommended by Dusty who apparently had flirted with his waitress there and secured himself some free cocktails...typical Dusty. We had a little time to kill before the reservation, so we set up shop at the bar, which happened to have the Flyers game on TV, unluckily for Maureen. While, I'm not much of an adventurous drinker (I stuck to beer, although I did class it up with some Stella Artois's), Maureen enjoyed the specialty drinks the Red Sky had to offer, including the aptly named "Red Sky". She gave the specialty drinks rave reviews and I had a sip of each one she had and I'd second those reviews.
Once we were seated for dinner, I had my mind set on getting a steak, so I ordered the NY Strip Steak, which I must say, was probably one of the best steaks I've ever had. It was a nice cut of meat, and all the seasonings and dressing really brought out the taste... Maureen was a little more adventurous and ordered the Lamb (I don't remember specifically what it was called, possibly, Rack of Lamb) and she enjoyed that as well. I managed to have a bite of it and it was pretty interesting. For dessert, we shared a creme brulee which was simply amazing. Believe it or not, I had never had creme brulee before, so it was pretty eye opening.
So to sum up the Red Sky Lounge, it's your typical trendy Olde City restaurant atmosphere, but with excellent food and a pretty creative selection of mixed drinks. I'd highly recommend it.
I'll probably have more postings of my different food and dining experiences now that Maureen has been able expose me to foods and restaurants outside of Denny's and Tom Jones Restaurant...HAHA.
An Anniversary of Sorts...
Today marks 3 years of me having owned my car, aptly named Tony. Yes I name my cars because I feel like it gives them personality. God knows my previous car, Reggie had a lot of personality and spunk and anyone who was a passenger in that car can verify it. Alright let me get off my car-naming soap box now and get a little sentimental now to tell the story of Tony...
It was three years ago today, a President's Day Weekend when it had snowed a little bit. At the time, I was a rambuctious tyke, a junior in college and interning at a popular classic rock station in Philadelphia. The sky was the limit for my potential. And I had a car with a lot of personality, an old Hyundai Sonata, who had seen better days, but still had a lot to him. But, lurking in the shadows, was a teenaged sister who had recently gotten her license and was becoming a strain on the family car situation. So it was decided by the parents, that it was time for me to get a new car, and for Reggie to passed on to someone who would never full appreciate everything he had to offer. Eventually she ran Reggie's transmission into the ground, to the point that he wouldn't shift into drive, and we were forced to give Reggie to Purple Heart... a sad day.
But enough about Reggie, this is supposed to be about Tony, the '05 Nissan Sentra. I accompanied the parents out to the dealerships along the Auto Mall with our main priorities being to check out Chevy, Honda, and Nissan as a wild card. Now keep in mind, that my Dad has made a sport out of haggling prices at car dealerships so this was going to be an interesting ideal. He gave me the speech before we started about how you've always gotta be prepared to walk at any time and you can't make it look like that you have to have a specific car. Apparently in past dealings, he may have had my Mom and Aunt on the verge of tears with his approach.
So we started off at the Chevy dealership and I ended up test driving a Chevy Cobalt, which was in its first year of production so it already had a knock against it. It felt like driving a box so we exited the dealership shortly after the test drive. Next came the Honda dealership. My mom has a Honda Accord that I had driven periodically so I was already a fan of Hondas and they were on the top of my list. Unfortunately, they were a bit out of my projected price range and they were not in the mood to haggle with my Dad so it didn't work out too well. At one point, the Sales Manager actually came out to shake my Dad's hand and congratulate his persistence, but there would be no budging with the price. So we were walking once again.
Finally, we ended up at the Nissan dealership and as we were walking up to the door, Randy, a smooth-talking Salesman was getting out of what would eventually be my car. He took one look at me, looked at the car, and then proclaimed, "You definitely want this car." And so the process began. I took the car for a test drive, it was a smooth drive, and an added bonus was that this model had an extravagent sound system - six CD changer, amp, and subwoofer already in the back. I was in love already. So now we had to begin the price haggling courtship. Randy the Salesman was a smooth talker who wanted to iron out all the details with the novice who didn't know any better (me), but he had my Dad standing in the way of that. So for about two hours, there were threats of walking out, Randy having to go back to his Sales Manager to see if he could lower the price, and a lot of my Mom complaining about how my Dad was acting. I was enjoying the whole scene, but at the same time, I was set on buying the car so I was somewhat reluctant to walk if we had to. The highlight of the night had to be when Randy came out of his Manager's office and came over to me to shake my hand, saying "I think we've got ourselves a deal" and my Dad stepping right in front of me and blocking the handshake. CLASSIC.
In the end, we were finally able to iron out all the details, we got the price we were looking for, and I got the car that I wanted. 3 years later, Tony is still running strong and the sound system is still fully intact. Everything I could ask for from a car...
It was three years ago today, a President's Day Weekend when it had snowed a little bit. At the time, I was a rambuctious tyke, a junior in college and interning at a popular classic rock station in Philadelphia. The sky was the limit for my potential. And I had a car with a lot of personality, an old Hyundai Sonata, who had seen better days, but still had a lot to him. But, lurking in the shadows, was a teenaged sister who had recently gotten her license and was becoming a strain on the family car situation. So it was decided by the parents, that it was time for me to get a new car, and for Reggie to passed on to someone who would never full appreciate everything he had to offer. Eventually she ran Reggie's transmission into the ground, to the point that he wouldn't shift into drive, and we were forced to give Reggie to Purple Heart... a sad day.
But enough about Reggie, this is supposed to be about Tony, the '05 Nissan Sentra. I accompanied the parents out to the dealerships along the Auto Mall with our main priorities being to check out Chevy, Honda, and Nissan as a wild card. Now keep in mind, that my Dad has made a sport out of haggling prices at car dealerships so this was going to be an interesting ideal. He gave me the speech before we started about how you've always gotta be prepared to walk at any time and you can't make it look like that you have to have a specific car. Apparently in past dealings, he may have had my Mom and Aunt on the verge of tears with his approach.
So we started off at the Chevy dealership and I ended up test driving a Chevy Cobalt, which was in its first year of production so it already had a knock against it. It felt like driving a box so we exited the dealership shortly after the test drive. Next came the Honda dealership. My mom has a Honda Accord that I had driven periodically so I was already a fan of Hondas and they were on the top of my list. Unfortunately, they were a bit out of my projected price range and they were not in the mood to haggle with my Dad so it didn't work out too well. At one point, the Sales Manager actually came out to shake my Dad's hand and congratulate his persistence, but there would be no budging with the price. So we were walking once again.
Finally, we ended up at the Nissan dealership and as we were walking up to the door, Randy, a smooth-talking Salesman was getting out of what would eventually be my car. He took one look at me, looked at the car, and then proclaimed, "You definitely want this car." And so the process began. I took the car for a test drive, it was a smooth drive, and an added bonus was that this model had an extravagent sound system - six CD changer, amp, and subwoofer already in the back. I was in love already. So now we had to begin the price haggling courtship. Randy the Salesman was a smooth talker who wanted to iron out all the details with the novice who didn't know any better (me), but he had my Dad standing in the way of that. So for about two hours, there were threats of walking out, Randy having to go back to his Sales Manager to see if he could lower the price, and a lot of my Mom complaining about how my Dad was acting. I was enjoying the whole scene, but at the same time, I was set on buying the car so I was somewhat reluctant to walk if we had to. The highlight of the night had to be when Randy came out of his Manager's office and came over to me to shake my hand, saying "I think we've got ourselves a deal" and my Dad stepping right in front of me and blocking the handshake. CLASSIC.
In the end, we were finally able to iron out all the details, we got the price we were looking for, and I got the car that I wanted. 3 years later, Tony is still running strong and the sound system is still fully intact. Everything I could ask for from a car...
Monday, February 11, 2008
Recently purchased albums that I can't get enough of...
SET YOUR GOALS - MUTINY! ... I'm a little late getting into them considering the album came out in 2006 but they're a pretty good hardcore punk band that combine different genres. They should have a new album coming out later this year.
JUST SURRENDER - WE'RE IN LIKE SIN... another band I was late getting into. I first saw them with All Time Low and they were a pretty good pop-punk band.
SAVES THE DAY - UNDER THE BOARDS
SAVES THE DAY - SOUND THE ALARM... I had thrown in the towel on Saves the Day originally after In Reverie, but Marty recommended Under the Boards and I immediately got back into them after hearing that album and and I went back and bought Sound the Alarm, its predecessor as well.
There will probably be more ablums added as I continue to make new purchases during this slow "new music" season...
JUST SURRENDER - WE'RE IN LIKE SIN... another band I was late getting into. I first saw them with All Time Low and they were a pretty good pop-punk band.
SAVES THE DAY - UNDER THE BOARDS
SAVES THE DAY - SOUND THE ALARM... I had thrown in the towel on Saves the Day originally after In Reverie, but Marty recommended Under the Boards and I immediately got back into them after hearing that album and and I went back and bought Sound the Alarm, its predecessor as well.
There will probably be more ablums added as I continue to make new purchases during this slow "new music" season...
Monday, February 4, 2008
18 & 1!!!... 18 & 1!!!
I can't remember the last time I've taken so much joy in seeing a team lose. Super Bowl 42 was very kind to me this year in allowing the New York Giants to defeat the New England Patriots and ruin their bid for a perfect season (regular season and playoffs). Being that I'm an Eagles fan, I really didn't want to have to root for the Giants, but I started to take to them with their almost unstoppable front seven on defense and Eli Manning, the good ol' boy. But I've got multiple reasons to hate the Patriots so I had no problem rooting against them. New England had previously beaten the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and they blew out the Dolphins twice in the regular season. Throw in the fact that I have a real disdain for anything Boston and you've got the most hated team in professional sports in my world.
I also took great joy this morning in reading The Sports Guy's reaction to the whole game and how his most lasting memory will be of the chants of "18 & 1" by Giants fans in the parking lot outside the Super Bowl after the game. I LOVE IT.
I'd also like to say that the "Super Bowl Party" at Marty's house for the game was a great success. I ate and drank way too much and was in a bit of a food coma by half time. I resorted to sitting on the couch and belittling Clavin, who for some odd reason decided to root for the Patriots. Apparently, if Tom Brady was your QB in fantasy football, then you tend to root for his team the rest of the year (I'm looking at you Dusty) even after the fantasy football season is over. And my food preparations went over pretty well. I was able to successfully make the "Ditka Special" kielbasa that always goes over well. I also introduced everyone to a taco meat and cheese dip that I stole from Melissa. I gorged myself on that for most of the night and I paid the price for that this morning... Also mad props to Brian for making everyone t-shirts with some memorable lyrics from some classic hip hop songs.
I also took great joy this morning in reading The Sports Guy's reaction to the whole game and how his most lasting memory will be of the chants of "18 & 1" by Giants fans in the parking lot outside the Super Bowl after the game. I LOVE IT.
I'd also like to say that the "Super Bowl Party" at Marty's house for the game was a great success. I ate and drank way too much and was in a bit of a food coma by half time. I resorted to sitting on the couch and belittling Clavin, who for some odd reason decided to root for the Patriots. Apparently, if Tom Brady was your QB in fantasy football, then you tend to root for his team the rest of the year (I'm looking at you Dusty) even after the fantasy football season is over. And my food preparations went over pretty well. I was able to successfully make the "Ditka Special" kielbasa that always goes over well. I also introduced everyone to a taco meat and cheese dip that I stole from Melissa. I gorged myself on that for most of the night and I paid the price for that this morning... Also mad props to Brian for making everyone t-shirts with some memorable lyrics from some classic hip hop songs.
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